The present invention relates to apparatus for supplying an automatic spinning machine with full cans of sliver and, more particularly, to a sliver can transport carriage having a can manipulating arrangement for transferring full and empty sliver cans to and from a spinning machine.
In their simplest form, sliver can transport carriages are adapted to carry a single sliver can. Such a can transport carriage may provide a permanent parking position for an empty can, located beneath a can loading position. In such can transport carriages, it is necessary to first remove the empty can before the carriage can readily deliver a full sliver can to the spinning machine. Accordingly, a further operation of the carriage is necessary to deliver the empty can to a removal position and then to receive a full sliver can at another position before the carriage is enabled to deliver a full can to the spinning machine.
Other can transport carriages incorporate considerably more complicated mechanisms for transporting several sliver cans at once and for supplying the spinning positions of a spinning machine with full sliver cans while also at the same time removing empty sliver cans from the spinning positions. In general operation, the empty sliver can at a spinning position much first be removed and deposited on a storage position on the can transport carriage. The can manipulating mechanism required to accomplish this operation must be capable of changing its relative position to the can transport carriage to also subsequently receive a full sliver can at a parking position and then deliver the full can to the spinning position of the spinning machine. The other full sliver cans carried by the transport carriage are supported at other parking positions from which the can manipulating arrangement must be capable of grasping and delivering the full cans in succession to other spinning positions of the spinning machine.